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Five Tulsa Players Named to C-USA Coaches Preseason Team
7/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
July 21, 2010
Irving, Texas - The Tulsa football is represented by five players on the 2010 Conference USA Preseason First-Team as selected by the league's coaches, it was announced today. Tulsa dominated the special teams awards as three players were named to the team, while one player each on offense and defense have been recognized.
The specialists named to the preseason all-conference team include return specialist junior Damaris Johnson as a punt returner, junior kicker Kevin Fitzpatrick and senior punter Michael Such. Junior tackle Tyler Holmes was named to the offensive team for the second straight preseason, while sophomore end Cory Dorris was selected on defense.
The nation's all-purpose yardage leader in 2009, Johnson led the Golden Hurricane in kick return, punt return and receiving yards last year. Earlier this summer, Johnson was named fourth team preseason All-America as a receiver by Phil Steele's College Football Preview Magazine.
As a sophomore, Johnson caught 78 passes for a team-high 1,131 yards and had three touchdowns for the Hurricane in 2009. He also had a 24.6 kickoff return and 14.2 punt return average.
A second-team all-C-USA selection as a receiver and punt returner, Johnson averaged 224.4 all-purpose yards a year ago. He now ranks seventh on C-USA's all-purpose yardage list with 5,168 yards in just two seasons. Johnson had 2,475 all-purpose yards in 2008 and last year totaled 2,693 yards. He needs 2,405 yards to tie Conference USA's all-time leader DeAngelo Williams of Memphis (2002-05) for first place.
With 2,513 career kickoff return yards, he needs just 60 more yards to surpass Jason Jacoby (1994-97) to become Tulsa's career kickoff return yardage leader, and 432 yards to move into first place on the C-USA career chart, tying SMU's Jessie Henderson's (2005-08) total of 2,945 yards.
Fitzpatrick converted 13-of-14 field goals last year, while also hitting 42-of-44 PATs for 81 points. He ranked second in Conference USA for field goal percentage at 92.9-percent and averaged 62.0 yards on his kick-offs.
He connected on a game-winning 37-yard field goal in the overtime against Memphis in the season finale. Fitzpatrick also had a career-long last year of 51 yards against East Carolina.
Such enters the 2010 season as Tulsa's punter for the fourth consecutive year. He punted 57 times last year for a 44.5 average to rank third among Conference USA punters. In the season finale against Memphis, Such connected on the third-longest punt in school history with an 83-yarder
He comes into the season with a 42.3 career average and has placed 30 career punts inside the 20-yard line.
A two-year starter, Holmes has played and started in 20 games at left tackle for the Hurricane offense. He missed six games last year with a leg injury. Holmes played in the first two contests, then returned to action against Houston for the final four games. Holmes was named to the Collegefootballnews.com Freshman All-America team in 2008, as well as earning C-USA all-freshman team accolades that season.
Dorris started all 12 games last year as a red-shirt freshman and was named to the C-USA all-freshman team at defensive end. He was credited with 54 tackles, 5.5 stops for -22 yards, three sacks for -18 yards, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. He was also selected to the Collegefootballnews.com honorable mention all-freshman team.
Tulsa opens the 2010 season at defending Conference USA Champion East Carolina on Sunday, September 5th on ESPN 2. The Hurricane will open the home season against Bowling Green on Sept. 11th. Season tickets are available at www.TulsaHurricane.com or by calling 918.631.GoTU (4688).
2010 C-USA FOOTBALL COACHES PRESEASON AWARDSFirst Team Offense QB Case Keenum, Sr., Houston RB Donald Buckram, Sr., UTEP RB Brynn Harvey, Jr., UCF OL Kelvin Beachum, Jr., SMU OL Tyler Holmes, Jr., Tulsa OL Scott Mitchell, Sr., Rice OL Jah Reid, Sr., UCF OL Dominik Riley, Sr., Memphis WR DeAndre Brown, Jr., Southern Miss WR James Cleveland, Sr., Houston WR Dwayne Harris, Sr., East Carolina TE Lee Smith, Sr., Marshall
First Team Defense DL Cory Dorris, So., Tulsa DL Anthony Gray, Sr., Southern Miss DL Bruce Miller, Sr., UCF DL Scott Solomon, Sr., Rice LB Marcus McGraw, Jr., Houston LB Mario Harvey, Sr., Marshall LB Korey Williams, Jr., Southern Miss DB Hiram Atwater, Sr., UAB DB Emanuel Davis, Jr., East Carolina DB Jamal Robinson, Sr., Houston DB Josh Robinson, So., UCF
First Team Special Team K Kevin Fitzpatrick, Jr., Tulsa P Michael Such, Sr., Tulsa KR Tyron Carrier, Jr., Houston PR Damaris Johnson, Jr., Tulsa
Offensive Player of the Year Case Keenum, Sr., QB, Houston
Defensive Player of the Year Bruce Miller, Sr., DE, UCF
Special Teams Player of the Year Tyron Carrier, Jr., KR/PR, Houston
